Patchwork Class at Gather Here in Cambridge, MA

First, let me say that taking the embroidery class really inspired me to continue with the craft. I loved it as a kid and rediscovering it again has made me super happy. Since the class I finished the sampler I started there and have finished another Halloween-themed project. I just started working on another project that I’m really excited to show you once it’s done.

So, my next craft obsession? Quilting! Gather Here offers a great patchwork class to make a “mug rug” (basically a quilted coaster) so I signed up for that! After waiting for what felt like forever, the class day finally arrived.

Our areas were individually set up with instructions, all the tools we would need for the project, and a whole bunch of fabric to pick from.

Since the “mug rug” featured a candy corn design, I went all out with the Halloween fabric.

We started by cutting out the templates provided to us and then cutting out all of our fabric. The pieces of the project consisted of 3 layers of fabric for the candy corn design, another layer of fabric for the background, batting in the middle of the “mug rug,” a layer of fabric for the backside, and fabric for the border.

We sewed the candy corn fabric layers together, and then sewed the candy corn design to the background fabric. Side note: I had never used a Bernina machine before and I was so impressed! They are smooth and so easy to use. If they didn’t cost like $3,000, I would buy one in heartbeat.

Once the candy corn was sewed to the background fabric we pieced everything together – the backside, batting in the middle, and design on top.

We then used the cutting mat and rotary cutter to “square up” our design – basically trimming all of the excess off.

The final step was creating our own bias tape for the border. I had never done this before and it was a little intimidating. I wasn’t able to take pictures as we did this but here’s an excellent guide similar to the way we did it. In searching for this guide I also found this amazing bias tape tutorial that’s worth a look too.

The finished product!

The class took about 3 hours and was really great. I’m now officially hooked on the idea of quilting and even bought a patchwork book right after the class to get me started.